More on the Miley Mess

I hope I'm not beating this to death, but I find this whole Miley Cyrus photo flap fascinating. Media people are tripping over themselves in order to state their positions and formulate solutions to the "problem".

Today a "psychologist", Dr. Andrea Bonoir, went completely over the edge of reason by labeling the photos "creep-tacular", and suggesting that the pregnancy of Britney Spears little sister looks "downright healthy in comparison".

Now Dr. Bonoir has an impressive resume which includes Yale, AU, GWU and Georgetown, but scholarly credentials do not necessarily guarantee the presence of common sense. These pop psychologists have a tendency to over-analyze, simply because it's part of the job.

If my daughter came to me when she was 15 and told me that she was pregnant, it's not likely that I would have been as cool, calm and collected as Juno's parents in the recent movie. I would also not have been too pleased if she had come to me and told me that she posed for a magazine wearing nothing but a sheet. But given a choice between the two, the photo is easily the most preferable.

Dr. Bonoir also goes on to say:

This isn't the first time I've kvetched about the sexualization of young girls. The damage is serious. It's not a problem with sex or bare backs — it's a problem of taking away girls' power by making them objects, granting them worth only by how much they can turn guys on.

Anybody who has followed this blog knows that objectification and sexualization of women is a serious problem in our society, but at the same time I do not necessarily feel that it is something that can be controlled, or abolished. People are sexual animals, and sex is one of the most wonderful gifts in the life experience. Women are going to dress provocatively, with facial makeup and plunging necklines, and men are going to try and look as virile as possible. Men and women have been searching for ways to turn each other on since they first walked upon the planet.

Miley Cyrus has already been objectified. She is a product, something to be marketed and sold. In order to "solve" this problem, one would have to advocate the end of show business, the end of photography, of the film industry, of stage presentations, of television, of magazines, etc., or at least prohibit anyone under the age of 18 from participating in these businesses. Ain't gonna happen.

What is needed here is a healthier attitude towards the human body, which is the essential core philosophy of nudism. Instead of apologizing for the photographs, Miley Cyrus should have adopted the attitude of the photographer, Annie Leibovitz, who called the images "simple" and "beautiful", which they are. Once Cyrus "apologized" for the images, they suddenly became a source of shame and scandal, fodder for The Today Show and The View, and a problem to be "solved" by pop psychologists.

What began as a photographic session showing the transition from a young girl into a woman, has now become a call for Cyrus to suppress her sexual awakening. I am reminded of Judy Garland, who at the age of 17 played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, and was the victim of the same sort of sexual suppression.

Her breasts were bound with tape and she was made to wear a special corset to flatten out her curves and make her appear younger; her blue gingham dress (her only costume) was also chosen for its blurring effect on her figure. [wikipedia]

So is this what they want to do to Cyrus, bind her up and keep her as a child for the sake of marketing?

It's a very complicated issue, primarily because as a society, we Americans are afraid of our own sexuality, to the point where the bare back of a 15 year-old pop star becomes a source of scandal and cultural trauma. It's the Dr. Bonoirs of the world that exploit what should be a simple issue and turn it into a full-blown societal ill, with ridiculous statements like these:

Certainly, I am not in denial about what many 15-year-olds are doing in the backs of cars. But at least that is at their own private pace, under their own control, and not for the pleasure of 50-year-old marketing execs (or, presumably, the teens' fathers).

Miley Cyrus has no "private pace". She is on course to be a billionaire, and she is a pop-culture phenomenon. Maybe this photo was her own "private pace", something which made her look beautiful, and brought out the emerging woman in her. Maybe it was for her pleasure, and now that's been taken away from her by fools.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked